Topic: Rent Blu-Ray Disk & HD-DVD titles

[Ice Storm]

I'm unsure if anyone has asked yet but where can you rent BD or HD-DVD titles?

[av_phile1]

Locally?   I think you'd be lucky to see Video City start renting out high def discs in a couple of years. Ofcourse there may be some exclusive village rentals shops that can start something in this direction. Am just not aware of any at this time.  Are there?

If I recall right, it took Video City until 2004 to rent out DVDs - seven years after the format's introduction. 

[pchin]

Ooh..I'd love to see our local rental HD movie house.

Perhaps some of us can pool resources & start one??  

[killer_smile3]

yes, this is indeed a good idea. hope somebody will start the hd renting business

[av_phile1]

The LD was a successful niche format in its day.  I recall renting 2-5 LDs at a time from our neighborhood video store owned by an LD enthusiast.  Before I started DVDs, I must have had around 150 VHS tape copies of LDs.  And those nicely printed LP type cardboard jackets were rented out with the discs, unlike today when DVD discs are placed in separate amaray cases for renting.  It cost P60 - P75 to rent LDs. The owner needed something like 20 rentals to recover his purchase cost per title.

These days I think DVDs are rented out at P20 from Video City.  Blu-rays are scratch resistant  and should not be a problem rented out over time.  The HD DVDs would be a problem because they are as scratch prone as current DVDs.  I don't mind spending P50 per rental.  I just hope I can build my HTPC to rip them out in time for the start of HD rentals.  It will be people like me ripping rented high definition discs that might just make HD as niche as LD.  Then again, maybe not.  HTPCs with HD ripping capability are just too expensive for the common joe to bother building anyway.   

[Ice Storm]

Any updates? Until %$&^(*% come out the cheapest way to get HD goodness is renting.

[alvinthx2]

I came from the video rental business with 3 stores in Pampanga. I was one of the first to rent out DVD's which I import from DVD express and Amazon. From experience it is very hard to control damage to the disc. Now that HD content is still at 1,500 per title, it would not be luctrative to rent out these titles at less tha 100 pesos/title/day. Its also possible that the industry for bootlegs is just around the corner. I was left with more than 1000 DVD original disc when I closed shop and have to sell them dirt cheap to recover part of investment.

[av_phile1]

The bootleg industry for HD is nowhere in sight.  At least not for another year or two.  Firstly, the blank disks for BD and HDDVD are still quite expensive.   For one to have an HTPC machine that can rip one is also expensive. And BD replicators are not available to the public.  Maybe HD HDVD replicators are since these are essentially your DVD relicators with just some minor adjustments. P100 rent might actually help forestall piracy.  If this had been widespread in the early DVD days at P20 per rent, maybe piracy wouldn't have prospered.   The fact is that DVD piracy filled a niche for cheap DVDs at P80 per, at a time when DVDs were selling for P999 and there were no options for rentals. 

At the moment, there are no choices for watching HD films locally.  You just have to get them at Amazon or a few specialty AV shops locally at around 2T.    In Europe and the US, the market can watch 720p via cable or high speed video streaming over broadband internet.  No such thing here.  There are no internet providers for the home with broadband speeds.  I mean TRUE broadband speeds of 2-5mbps on the average.  HD full length video starts at around 20Gb.  Go figure how long that will download on PLDT DSL or SmartBro.

So i think there's a viable business for HD rentals locally.  I am just not sure how many local households are now into HD.  I am confident people in upscale villages and condos have started, so it may be a good idea for video shops in those locations to start one.  Don't wait until piracy starts flooding the market with cheap HD materials. 

[obsi]

Dug this thread up, any updates?  Are there presently any places or persons renting out Blue-Ray discs?  TIA

[ricky]

My cousin and I are thinking of going into this business Mandaluyong area that can cater to san juan, mandaluyong and makati area muna. Initial cost of rental is 100/day but members need to pay a one time membership fee (non refundable deposit) to cover damages if ever Problem is How many pcs per title should we import to accomodate WEEKEND RENTALS since im sure there would be lesser rentals during the work week FEED BACK NAMAN GUYS kung papatok. I think theres only 350 titles available for both format na  

[killer_smile3]

this is a good idea sir.

[pchin]

Nice move ricky. In my situation, normally I can watch up to 2 movies over the weekend. Will be nice if we can rent instead of buying

Probably initially just a psc for each title (as long as there's a nice variety) to gauge the demand then you can increase the qty as required esp if there's a long waiting list for some particular tittles. 

[Marl☆1]

Have you guys tried the 'RENT' feature in some websites where you can get to watch movies (which presumably you can't download)?  Sample sites such as Blockbuster http://www.blockbuster.com/home  or cinemanow  http://www.cinemanow.com/ are some examples with RENT tabs.

I know these are primarily DVD-quality content but am sure HD content will just be around the corner.  This is probably one potential 'indirect' competitor to consider if you put up HD rental shops.  Well HD rips can already be seen at Limewire and Torrent so it should be prevalent soon. 

[sanmig_ph]

pare konti pa lang naka hd/bluray and madami pa din dito satin bootleg & dvd9 pa.
going to hd wagon is applicable in 42inch wide above display. sa below 42 inch kasi konti lang difference ng hd sa sddvd.
mga customer yung mga naka pj & 42inch na tv.

ang naisip ko naman parentahan is ps3 na naka widesceen.
pwede start konting disc na bluray for rent din.

[wilson]

If i were to start a HD renting gig it would be Blu-Ray exclusive as HD DVD is dead.

I'd use Amazon.com and Blockbuster as a barometer on what titles to import. I'm probably buying a PS3 after the next price cut and purchase Planet Earth for it. I'd get the top 10 titles for starters and then just get duplicates as demand dictates

Offer free membership to residents of high-end communities as these people are more likely to have a High Def setup.

[Krue]

My cousin and I are thinking of going into this business Mandaluyong area that can cater to san juan, mandaluyong and makati area muna. Initial cost of rental is 100/day but members need to pay a one time membership fee (non refundable deposit) to cover damages if ever Problem is How many pcs per title should we import to accomodate WEEKEND RENTALS since im sure there would be lesser rentals during the work week FEED BACK NAMAN GUYS kung papatok. I think theres only 350 titles available for both format na  

Or... You could set up something like what http://www.gamehopper.com.ph has done. Gamehopper rents out original Xbox 360, PS3, or Wii games here in Metro Manila. In order to be a member, you have to "donate" one of your original titles to be included in their list. I think this acts out as "collateral" just in case you lose or damage one the the titles you rented out. Not so sure though if they still do this...

Check out their website...

[dbdbd]

I owned a video store a few years back here in San Juan, But video piracy eventually killed the video rental business. With regards to HD the potential for earning big is unmistakenly viable. The only problem is you cannot legally rent out hd dvd's yet in the Philippines because there are no legitimate distributors of these softwares. Hence "illegal". That  was our problem before so advanced titles from the States cannot be freely displayed in the store premisies. Kaya advanced titles are "secretly" rented out. Whenever agents from the video regulatory board conducts regular "raids" in our store. They confiscate all "illegal" titles. Ubos investment mo... Bayad ka pa sa penalty. Pero kung malakas loob mo or kung may connection ka sa "loob". go ahead with your venture. Who knows baka mainspire uli ako magbukas ng video store.

[jerix]

anybody from batasan to fairview area who would like to get into this business consider me now as your  customer. 

You can even start now..just pm me ur titles.

[dobler]

The LD was a successful niche format in its day.  I recall renting 2-5 LDs at a time from our neighborhood video store owned by an LD enthusiast.  Before I started DVDs, I must have had around 150 VHS tape copies of LDs.  And those nicely printed LP type cardboard jackets were rented out with the discs, unlike today when DVD discs are placed in separate amaray cases for renting.  It cost P60 - P75 to rent LDs. The owner needed something like 20 rentals to recover his purchase cost per title.

I used to rent from Allied Video in Greehills. Usually every Friday, after dismissal time  from LSGH. Hay saya!  Those days, 40 bucks lang single LD rental, 60 pag double disc. Also the cost of those so called laser copies were 50 bucks when you provide your own tape.

My dream, somebody together with local distributors setup a rental service here similar to Netflix. I think Air 21/Fed Ex is capable of mailing out the discs. Something like 350 to 400 bucks a month for unlimited rental of available titles. Long Tail is the way to go...